I don’t wake up until 10:00 a.m. the next morning. The night’s drama and all that running I did must have really done a number on me. I open my eyes to see I’m in our room now. He must have carried me here. I have to pee like nobody’s business, but the sound of Josh snoring makes me look to my right. Here he is, dreaming, mouth open, the blankets halfway up his chest. I crawl up on it and listen to his heartbeat.
From the other room, the phone rings. I know from the ringtone that it’s mine. Josh’s breathing changes but I don’t want to lose this moment. He looks so peaceful. “Stay asleep, baby. It’s just my phone. It can wait.”
He smiles, squints at me and closes his eyes again, wrapping his arms around me and making a sound as he hugs me tight. I reach up and kiss him. My phone rings a new call. He opens his eyes as the dull sound pulls at us from the kitchen. “Did you plug it in for me?”
He nods. And his smile says he did something else.
“What?”
“I also erased all the calls and texts I left you.”
The phone stops ringing.
“That was very kind of you.”
“I didn’t want you …”
I stop him with my finger. “I appreciate that. A whole new start.”
“Yeah,” he smiles, and closes his eyes again. I do, too, lying on his chest.
My phone rings again, surprising both of us equally. “Three times. What if something bad has happened?” I say, jumping off him and running to the kitchen.
He’s right behind me. “That’s just what I was thinking.”
We get to the phone at the same and see Spike Jonze’s name. I stare at it.
“Jesus, Amber! Answer it.” He says hurriedly.
I yank out the plug, and whip it open. “Spike! Hi! Was that you who just called? …Oh.” I nod to Josh. He leans his hip on the counter and waits, just like last time. “Okay…right. Oh, really? Wow. I didn’t expect that …You’ve got it. Okay. No, no problem. Call me whenever. Saturdays are fine. Thanks Spike…. Bye.” I hang up.
“What’d he want?”
I pause for dramatic effect. Bite my lip. Put the phone down very slowly. I turn and go to the refrigerator. I open it, shoot a look over my shoulder dramatically to Josh, my face incredibly somber.
“Amber! What’d he want?” He takes a step forward.
“Well…” I say, and bend to look in the fridge. I open the drawer and take the lettuce out and hear him almost gasp as I very deliberately place it onto the middle shelf, and look over my shoulder at him playfully. “How’d you like to audition for a film?”
“WHAT??!!”
I shut the door, stand and play with an invisible hangnail, “Yeah. It’s the part of the best friend…”
“Are you fucking kidding me?”
“It’s not the lead, but it’s a great character.”
“Amber,” he steps forward. “Are you serious?”
I jump up and down, yelling, “I’m totally serious!!!! The film is back on!!!!”
His hand flies to his mouth. “Holy shit! Holy shit!!” I laugh as he grabs me and pulls me to him for a hug. But when he pulls away, he’s not smiling. “Amber, I’m so happy for you. But – and I mean this - You don’t have to have me audition because you feel guilty.”
I put his face in my hands and look into his beautiful eyes. “No. I want you to audition because of so many reasons… and all of them are good.”
“Yeah?” he asks, clouds clearing.
“Yeah. Listen, you may do great and you may do horribly, but none of that matters. This is one audition in a whole career of them. I just got a chance to make this right – so please give me that chance.”
His eyes well up and he says, “Thank you, Amber.”
“No. Thank you.”
Josh
The Day of The Audition
I walk up to Amber’s office and look at her name, Amber Monroe Casting, etched onto the plate, like I did the day I asked her to live with me. Only this time, I’m here as an actor. From my shaking hand I can tell I’m nervous. I coached privately with Henrick for this – long and thorough. We worked out my character’s thoughts and movement so much so that now I feel like I am Ryan when I do the scenes. I know who he is, what he wants. I even know what’s stopping him is his innocence. I know what happens when he loses it, how he feels.
I’m ready.
I walk up the stairs; take them one at a time, deliberately. Standing in front of the office, I feel a surge of adrenalin and take a deep breath and open the door. Inside, Annie smiles, has me fill out the sign-in sheet on her desk. I put down my name, my Agent, my Screen Actors Guild number, and my phone number. I thank her, neither of us letting on that we know each other outside of a professional capacity. It would freak out the other actors who are waiting to go in, and we need to respect that, Amber had cautioned. I take a shaky seat beside two guys who are my age and type, except one has blonde hair, unlike me and the other guy. Don’t look at the competition, Henrick had warned, so I avert my eyes and look straight ahead to a spot on the wall.
I hear something. Sounds like the words of the scene… Oh, shit. I can hear an actor auditioning through the thin walls! My heart pounds in my chest as I listen. Oh God. I’m going to make an ass out of myself; he sounds pretty good. I pull out my ear-buds from my jacket and plug them into my phone to drown out my anxiety with music. Remember that ‘nervous’ is really ‘excited.’ Change your perspective and take control of your mind, Henrick told me. I close my eyes and focus.
When the actor comes out, I don’t look at him. I also don’t look when the other guy with brown hair gets up and goes in. After about ten minutes, I see just his shoes and the bottom of his pants as he passes me. The blonde guy goes in and I’m left alone with Amy. She shoots me a look when I peek at her; my head leaned back against the wall. I close my eyes again, and wait, bobbing my head to the tunes and going over my lines, simultaneously. After a long while, the blonde guy reemerges and I see Amber thank him and say goodbye. I quickly pull the ear-buds out and stand. She smiles and says, “Hi Josh. Are you ready?”
“Hi. Yes. I am. Thanks.” I walk past her into the room and see Spike sitting there, jotting down notes. He looks up, stands and approaches me like a friend; shakes my hand. “Mr. Jonze,” I say.
“Spike. I liked your tape, Josh. Good stuff on there. Could use more,” he says.
“Yeah. I’m working on it.” I grin. He gets my meaning and laughs. My nerves settle immediately. The grin came from Ryan. From his innocence. I’m already there.
“Great. You ready?” He takes his seat.
I nod, remain standing, say lightly, “Yep.”
Amber hits record on a video camera, takes a chair and picks up the script. I knew she, as the casting director, would be reading the part of my brother, but this is surreal. We never rehearsed together because that wouldn’t have been fair. I want a fair shot. I need to do this on my own, my way. I ignore the surreal factor and lean on all the coaching with Henrick, force myself to forget I made love to this woman earlier this morning; watched her comb her hair, kissed her goodbye, knowing we’d see each other later, both of us scared for me.
As she begins, it happens. The memorized lines come out of me as if they’re my own words. When I get upset that my brother doesn’t believe in my business idea, I feel real confusion and disappointment. I coax, then beg him to take me seriously, for once – to not throw me aside like Dad did. “We have to stop the cycle! Don’t you see? What you’re saying now is his beliefs, his fears coming out, not yours!” When I see her cold face – I see his face, and know that it’s hopeless. I’ll have to get the support someplace else. “Fine. You don’t get it,” I say, as Ryan, and turn to walk right out the door. I don’t do it as a trick – it wasn’t planned. But when Amber comes back out and gets me, the expression on her face… is awe.
Floating back from Ryan’s imaginary world, I follow her into the room and see Spike sitting there, waiting. I clench my jaw and pr
epare for anything. He nods quietly, and looks down at his hands. Then he looks back up and says, “Wow. You did an incredible job.”
I grin, can’t believe what I’m hearing. “Thank you. Thanks.”
“Thank you, Josh,” Amber says, and I turn to leave.
As I reach for the door, Spike stops me. “Wait a second.”
I turn. “Yeah?”
“You kind of ruined this for me.”
I gulp, my hand falling by my side. “Sorry?”
He looks at Amber, waiting beside him. Her eyes dart to me and back to him. “You two are together right?”
Amber blinks and clears her throat. “Yes. I’m sorry I didn’t mention that. I wanted to give him a fair shot. We didn’t coach on it, though. I gave him no preferential treatment over the other actors.”
“You didn’t coach him at all?”
I take over now, protecting her. “Not at all. I trained with Henrick Von Clauson. Amber didn’t mean any harm by this. This was all me.”
Spike nods, “Huh. Well, when you walked in and I realized you were her boyfriend, I was prepared for crap. But then… after what you did, I don’t think I can see anyone else as Ryan. I know Henrick. Great coach. And it shows.”
“My eyebrows shoot up. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying, you don’t have a lot of credits, but if continue to coach with Henrick on this, I want you for the part. Wardrobe will be calling you. Tell your agent we’ll negotiate contracts, soon.” He shakes my hand again. “I look forward to working with you.”
“It’ll be an honor. Really.”
“Nah – don’t say that. It’ll be fun.”
I look to Amber, who’s sweating and shocked, but only I can see this because I know her.
“Wonderful,” she says, completely in control of it.
I turn to leave, but I have to know. “If you don’t mind me asking, how did you know I’m her boyfriend? We worked hard to keep it separate and professional.”
Spike smirks, “Probably should have removed the picture of you guys from her desk, then.”
I shoot a look to her desk and see the bridge photo, the one that was taped to our fridge. So I made it to the desk! I can’t stop smiling. I say goodbye, walk out and close the door. I think that this is probably the best day of my whole life because sitting in the chair waiting to go in, is Jake Lombardi. We meet eyes and I can tell he heard every word.
“Hey Jake,” I say, walking past him. “Bye Annie.”
“Oh - Bye Josh,” she calls after me. Jake glares at my back.
I swing open the door and take off down the stairs, jumping over the last two and running out of the building. I pass people who have no idea what to make of me. As soon as I get out of earshot, two safe blocks away, I yell to the heavens, “I GOT THE PART!!!!!” whooping, hollering and dancing around like a maniac.
My phone hums in my pocket. I snatch it out quickly and say, “Hey baby! Aren’t you auditioning Jake now?”
“No, he left right after you did and acted like a total baby. Wouldn’t read for us. Josh, you were incredible! I can’t believe it. You were amazing! I have to finish up some things, so I’ll see you at home. Let’s go out and celebrate later though, okay?”
“Are you proud of me, Amber?”
I can hear her smile, “So proud! And Josh?”
“Yeah?”
She waits a beat. “You’re a Lion.”
My heart bursts. “Thank you, baby.”
We hang up and I look to sliver of blue sky that rests above the skyscrapers surrounding me, saying aloud to anyone who’s listening, “That’s all I wanted to hear.”
The End.
_____________________
This is the end of the line for Amber’s story… or is it? In truth, her story weaves into her best friend’s steamy tales. The “I Love My…”Romance Series is about three best friends with three very different romantic problems, all against the backdrop of electric New York City. The stories of Jessica, Amber and Nicole overlap and intertwine quite cleverly, creating a huge payoff for those who read the whole series. Turn the page for their titles and… enjoy!
By Sabrina Lacey
JESSICA’s
I LOVE MY HEALED HEART
AMBER AND JOSH’s
I LOVE MY SIDE OF THE STORY
NICOLE’s
I LOVE MY SECRET ~ Part 1
I LOVE MY HOPE ~ Part 2
I LOVE MY CHANCE ~ Part 3
_________________________
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NEXT TITILLATING TALE?
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I LOVE MY SIDE OF THE STORY!
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sabrina's just like most women in modern times - she's been a lot of things to a lot of people; married, single, daughter, teacher, girlfriend, stand-up comedienne, wackadoo, friend, nutcase, bartender, fashion photographer, lazy bones, bitch, sweetheart (though less often than bitch), and always a little wild.
Happy to entertain you - and happy to hear from you...always.
Cheers!
I Love My Side of the Story Page 14
